Prominent activist Zakes Hlatshwayo has been axed as director of the National Land Committee (NLC).
Hlatshwayo’s dismissal follows an 11-month investigation and disciplinary hearing that stems from various allegations brought against him after the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) last year. Hlatshwayo is also a leading member of civil society.
The Mail & Guardian reported in January that the investigation was allegedly based on comments made by NLC land rights coordinator Andile Mngxitama during the summit when he apparently declared 2003 the year of the landless, saying that if government did not respect its promises to redistribute land, the LPM would begin illegal occupations.
Activists claim that the move to axe Hlatshwayo is the beginning of a plan by African National Congress-aligned members to destabilise the Landless People’s Movement (LPM), which has close links with the NLC and has taken militant positions against government’s land policies.
Wayne Jordaan, chairperson of the NLC board, confirmed Hlatshwayo’s dismissal but would not comment on claims that the ANC was destabilising the organisation. ”I cannot comment on that because I’m not part of the ANC.”
Mngxitama is also alleged to have supported the Zimbabwean land invasions in a SABC interview.
Hlatshwayo was dragged into the matter by the board after they instructed him to take disciplinary action against Mngxitama. Hlat-shwayo said he refused because there was ”insufficient evidence”.
Nearly a year later the NLC board of directors has dismissed him on the basis of this and five other charges. These included insubordination, financial mismanagement and misrepresentation.
The charges of insubordination relate directly to Mngxitama. Hlat-shwayo said: ”Throughout the disciplinary hearings the board never showed any evidence [the SABC clip or newspaper articles, which they claimed reported Mngxitama’s comments]. This was despite repeated requests for the evidence. For this reason I refused to discipline Andile [Mngxitama].”
The charges of financial mismanagement are sketchy. Hlatshwayo is accused of ”taking an unmandated decision to manage and account for the funds for the WSSD secretariat”. The board claims its mandate was to ”act as a conduit of the WSSD funds”, but that Hlatshwayo undermined this by making payments himself such as telephone accounts.
Another charge related to Hlatshwayo’s grant of R20 000 to the Transkei Land Service Organisation, a former NLC affiliate, to transport members by bus to the WSSD. The board claimed that this was beyond his ”discretionary power”.
According to Hlatshwayo’s defence, the ”amount was well within the discretionary powers and did not require board approval”.
The charges of misrepresentation relate directly to Hlatshwayo granting an employee sabbatical leave ”without obtaining appropriate board approval”. Hlatshwayo said he had consulted his management committee and decided to grant compassionate leave after the employee lost her baby.
”This is very disappointing for the NGO sector, which has a history of being a central player in observing human rights. Now the very same sector is violating the labour rights of an employee,” said an activist on condition of anonymity. ”This is a blatant attempt to shut down or control the LPM movement and its functions.”
Meanwhile, another senior NLC staff member, Ann Eveleth, stands to lose her job.
Her contract with the NLC as media liaison officer is also hanging in the balance after a decision by the board to advertise her position.